Emily May, who graduated with me from Southwest Guilford High School in 2001, died in a fatal automobile accident earlier this year.
She and I obviously did not keep in touch, as I had no idea until today that my old high school friend was gone. While others have had a chance to mourn her death, this is fresh news to me and I still haven't quite wrapped my head around it yet. She is the second friend of mine from high school to have died at the hands of a drunk driver.
When are people going to learn?
According to the articles I have read online, another girl was driving drunk and swerved into Emily's lane. Emily swerved so not to hit the girl and ended up colliding with a pole that had a red light camera on it. The heavy device fell onto the roof of Emily's '99 Mustang convertible. She was rushed to Cape Fear Valley Hospital, suffering from critical injuries and later died of these injuries.
As I sit here writing this, I am looking at photos of Emily. It's obvious to me that she was very loved and my heart breaks to those who were close to her. She was a daughter, a sister, an aunt, a cousin, a friend, and a girlfriend. She was a young woman with the highest of hopes, the biggest of dreams, and the kindest of hearts. Maybe her hopes would have been fulfilled; maybe her dreams would have been achieved; and most definitely, more people in this world would have had the honor of knowing her.
To Emily's family: I wish there was something I could say or do to help dull the sorrow and anguish that I know you are feeling.
Emily was always a joy to be around. Beautiful, happy, graceful, and funny. She was the light of any party and one of the few girls in high school who did not allow popularity to go to her head. She would be as friendly with the head cheerleader as she would with the drama geeks (ie - me). She was smart and there was never a doubt in my mind that she would be a successful young woman. Her life was stolen out from under her feet because of the carelessness of another.
Robert Fulghum states that: "I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge--myth is more potent than history--dreams are more powerful than facts--hope always triumphs over experience--laughter is the cure for grief--and love is stronger than death."
Emily was and is still loved. And it is because of the love we all exhibit that Emily Elizabeth May will live on.
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2 comments:
jeez. how sad. i'm sorry honey.
i also just found out that my old classmate passed away. i went to both middle school and college with him, although we weren't that close. He died in his sleep. It affected me more than I thought it would.
you just never know! things happen and it gives us even more reason to be thankful for every day. They definitely didn't deserve to go so soon though, I'm sure our thoughts and prayers are appreciated. I'm sorry about Emily.
Very sorry to hear this Hope you're doing okay, even if you weren't close, the loss of someone so young in such a way can be hard to deal with...
Plus, I find, it does something to us psychologically to lose a contemporary - it brings our own mortality more keenly into focus and makes us realize none of us have a claim on longevity.
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